Jewson has exceeded its timber certification target for 2011 by more than 10%.
The merchant told TTJ that about 92-93% of its timber products were now chain of custody certified, against a target in its five-year plan of 81% for 2011. Its current proportion of certified products also matches the target for 2013.
Jewson’s certified timber levels were 66% in 2007, rising to 90.8% last year.
Steve Warwick, Jewson’s sustainability solutions director, said Jewson planned to assess the timber sourcing of the recently acquired Build Center chain, once competition authority approval is forthcoming from the Office of Fair Trading. He said some of the Build Center branches were already chain of custody certified.
He said the ultimate aim was for Jewson to have 100% of its timber products certified by March, 2013, when the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR) is implemented, criminalising the import of illegally-logged wood products.
Mr Warwick said the EUTR had been a main talking point at Jewson’s timber group meeting last week.
“We have an absolute commitment in Saint Gobain Building Distribution (SGBD) to take whatever steps are needed to make sure we comply with the new regulations,” he said.
He said SGBD’s International Timber business, as an importer, was likely to be placing timber products on the market for the first time as stipulated under the ETR and was therefore liable for the legality of imported timber products.
“We are trying to ensure we put as much timber through International Timber as possible, so there is no slippage.” said Mr Warwick. “One of our targets is not to leave ourselves open to investigations into timber illegality.
At the meeting, Jewson staff responsible for kitchen, door and products with timber components were also briefed to ask suppliers about their timber sourcing arrangements.
